Bannister goes six strong innings as Royals rout Tigers

Sep 25, 2008 - 3:25 AM
DETROIT (Ticker) -- It took Brian Bannister nearly three months
to win one game. This month, it took him 10 days to pick up two
victories.

Bannister tossed six shutout innings and the Royals exploded for
seven runs in the fifth inning as Kansas City finished off a
three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers with a 10-4 victory on
Wednesday.

Bannister (9-16), who suffered through a 13-start winless streak
earlier this season that he finally snapped on September 14, had
one of his best outings of the year to earn his second win in
three starts. He held the Tigers to seven hits while striking
out four and walking one.

"The most satisfying thing this whole series has been how the
team is playing," Bannister said. "The guys right now have a
lot of fire and they're playing well together. They're giving
the pitching staff a lot of confidence."

Bannister helped keep the Royals' modest hopes alive of avoiding
the American League Central cellar for the first time since
2003. The Royals (73-86) have won 11 of 13 to move into sole
possession of fourth place, one game better than the last-place
Tigers (71-86), who have lost 12 of 13.

"You never want to finish last," Royals catcher John Buck said.
"From where we were in August to now, it's really something to
hang your hat on for next season."

Kansas City did the bulk of its damage in the fifth off Detroit
starter Nate Robertson (7-11). The struggling lefthander's lack
of control was his undoing, as he walked four batters in that
inning alone - including two with the bases loaded. Alex Gordon
added a run-scoring single before Mitch Maier broke it open with
a three-run triple to right field to chase Robertson.

"It was really great to get a start and have a couple of hits to
help the ballclub win," Maier said.

Robertson, who hasn't won since August 10 and has spent some
time in the bullpen in recent weeks after falling out of favor
in the rotation, gave up eight runs - seven earned - and seven
hits in 4 2/3 innings.

"I had everything going tonight," Robertson said. "I felt I was
in the zone with every pitch. But the walks got to me in the
fifth and everything fell apart. The frustration on the calls
on pitches really got to me."

Buck and Tony Pena Jr. drove in two runs apiece for the Royals
and Jose Guillen collected his team-leading 96th RBI.

"We came up with a lot of clutch hits at the right time," Buck
said.

Placido Polanco hit a three-run home run and Mike Hessman added
a solo blast to provide the offense for Detroit.

The Tigers managed six runs in this three-game sweep and
finished 7-11 against the Royals. If current trends hold, they
could be in line for another 90-loss season, which would be
their eighth in the last 11 seasons.

"We're just in an offensive funk right now," Tigers manager Jim
Leyland said. "We have no excuses, the guys are out there
trying every night. We just can't get anything going. It's
tough playing in games like these. It's not like what Chicago
and Minnesota are playing for tonight."

ALAT DETROIT - SCORING UPDATETHREE-RUN HOME RUN BY PLACIDO POLANCO (8) TO LEFT WITH 2 OUT IN THE 9TH OFF RON MAHAY SCORED RAMON SANTIAGO AND DANE SARDINHA.CURRENT SCORE: KANSAS CITY 10, DETROIT 4DUE UP FOR DETROIT: R RABURN (.232, 0-FOR-2)